case study: gjØa central control room control room ...€¦ · 07/05/2019 · master operations...

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Control roominnovation changes the gamesAn event that broke records and made history with more than 200 nations represented and 7,500 athletes competing in more than 24 sports over seven days, as the year’s largest sports and humanitarian event in the world, the 2019 Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi – the first-ever to be held in the MENA region – was one of immense scale. Thanks to the Cyviz Easy Platform – a ready-to-implement solution that could be tailored to any control center’s specific needs and configured rapidly – the event ran seamlessly.

Selecting technology to successfully deliver a mega-event

When planning an event of exceptional scale, having the right logistics and organizational system in place is absolutely essential – this means having the most effective, seamless, efficient and useful control room functionality possible. Creating an operations center that is tailored to the specific needs can be challenging, not to mention costly and time- consuming – yet what if there was a ready-to-input platform available that could not only be installed and deployed in record time, but could also be customized to fulfil its unique needs? With the Cyviz Easy Platform – a standardized and configurable, yet easily tailored out-of-the-box solution – offering exactly that, it was the clear choice for one of the most highly-regarded international sporting events of 2019: The Special Olympics World Games.

Image: The beating heart of the control room with its customized dashboard, serving the Special Olympics’ operations team to get a full overview across events and venues.

CASE STUDY: GJØA CENTRAL CONTROL ROOMCASE STUDY: 2019 SPECIAL OLYMPICS CONTROL ROOM

Copyright © 2019 Cyviz / All Rights ReservedVersion: 20190507

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Using Cyviz technology we were able to customize the dashboard to the needs of the people managing this huge event.

– Dr Yousef Al Hammadi, Chief Intelligence Officer, Special Olympics World Games, Abu Dhabi 2019

Even the design and layout of the control room was the key: It had to accommodate staff working long shifts of up to 20 hours, in every aspect from operations and technology to medical, logistics, and more. On-screen, the content needed to be dynamic and easily consumed, while also being flexible enough to adapt to the current needs and situation. Smooth communication systems were also paramount, to facilitate collaboration through technology, visualisation, video calls, Whats-App, and other correspondence methods. The desired result? Solutions that offered situati-onal awareness to help troubleshoot and take action based on multiple sources of infor-mation, and connecting with the appropriate operations centres around the venues.

Innovation and people in mind

To make this happen, the Special Olympics committee and Clayton D’Costa commenced work on the project two years before the event. With a background working with MOCs and large events – among them, the 2012 Summer Olympics held in London, England – Clayton was perfectly placed to handle a team that could create an innovative and exceptional space to enable the most successful and well-run event possible.

With the committee tasked to find the best solution, Dr Yousef Al Hammadi chose Cyviz to evaluate and take on the task. Cyviz, was the missing piece in the MOC systems. As a global provider of solutions for high perfor-mance visualization, collaboration, operations centers and meeting room environments, and known for future-focused digital workforce solutions, they were the perfect partner to take on these challenges. As a company that takes pride in an inclusive culture, with a focus on equal rights and opportunity, it was the right fit in terms of attitude and values. To Cyviz, it wasn’t just a chance to ensure that the control room at the heart of the event’s successful execution ran seamlessly, but also a fantastic opportunity to helping an impor-tant cause.

Visualizing data and insights to make it actionable in real-time

Through the event’s data collection and analytics monitoring and visualization in the master operations center (MOC) and beyond, planning for every aspect – from transpor-tation and medical support to collaboration through multiple streams of technology – had to be seamless. During the opening ceremony alone, transportation had to be organized for 25,000 people – all of which was documented with a 360 perspective and streamed online. An average estimate of 500 medical incidents per day needed to be accounted for, all bearing in mind that with an event of this amplitude, without the right logistics people can easily get lost.

Abu Dhabi, the host city

The Games took place at Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi from March 14th to 21st, 2019. As the first-ever Special Olympics World Games to be held in the Middle East region, this year’s event was destined to be a groundbreaking one from the start. The event made history by not only being the most unified Games yet – with more female athletes than ever before – accommodating 500,000 spectators at nine world-class venues across Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and more than 20,000 volunteers assisting its 1,500 refereeing officials and 3,000 coaches, it was also the largest sports and humanitarian event

in 2019.

specialolympics.org

visitabudhabi.ae


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A ready-to-use, yet fullycustomizable solution

With just 1.5 days to implement the solution, many companies would have floundered – but thanks to the standardized set of configura-ble building blocks, the organizers were able to get to work immediately. The ability to monitor multiple content sources at the same time, and engage with content in a dynamic and flexible way, was a key component to the success. The event used the Cyviz Easy Platform: a standardized, configurable out-of-the-boxsolution that appealed to the committee not just because the installation was swift and based on pre-tested design principles and components, but also because it could still be tailored to the event’s exact needs. Using this platform, various content sources could beadded from a predefined list that the organizing committee defined and linked to from their data hub – while 8 simultaneously

visualized data sources could be manipulated and interacted with in an intuitive user interfa-ce. Cyviz’ system was installed and configured in less than 2 days, and after a short introdu-ction to the users, it was up and running.

Thanks to the unlimited number of presets offered, the MOC was set up to be able to quickly convert the room as needed.

In addition to the main operation center, they also had numerous operations centers across the venue, with an incident management room in case of emergency with video-confe-rencing through high-definition streams from either location – thus allowing the teams to coordinate and resolve any issues on the fly.

Situational awareness whilesupporting innovative thinking

Delivering command and control in an innova-tive way, the Cyviz solution acted as a visual aggregator for all related data and intelligence. In addition, the Games app helped visitors and athletes to navigate through Augmented Reality and more, while a chatbot allowed for hassle-free sports information – from scheduling to live updates – to be accessed.

A space designed for people

Beyond the exceptional situationalawareness for resolving issues andincidents in real-time, the platform’s ease of use meant that the operators of the control room could enjoy a great, more stress-free work environment. With the room’s ability to rapidly convert and adapt to specific scena-rios, medical incidents could be resolved quic-kly to assure the safety of athletes and others, while as a whole, the athletes and their crews were provided with excellent service and support throughout the games.

About Special Olympics

Special Olympics is a global inclusion movement using sport, health, education and leadership programs every day around the world to end discrimination against and empower people with intellectual disabilities. Founded in 1968, the Special Olympics movement has grown to more than 6 million athletes and Unified Sports partners in more than 190 countries. With the support of more than 1 million coaches and volunteers, Special Olympics delivers 32 Olympic-type sports and over 100,000 games and competitions throughout the year.

Learn more at www.SpecialOlympics.org. www.visitabudhabi.ae

Think differently, think about technology in the space, and think about the people in the space.

– Clayton D’Costa, Director of Planning and Integration, Special Olympics World Games, Abu Dhabi 2019


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Business benefits

User experience

• A superior user experience for the operators and their ability to view and engage with data and analytics to makedecisions, get an overview of activities and assure that overall execution is working.

• At times, the staff operated up to 20-hour shifts in front of the screen, and the design of the room and the systems need to accommodate that through room layout, spaces for breaks and situational overview based on data and content.

• Creating situational awareness and the ability to take actions real-time, based on the information and data at hand.

• A flexible and dynamic approach to working with content and data sources on-screen to adapt to any given scenario.

Installation and design

• With an aggressive roll-out and installation schedule, such as was the case with this project, Cyviz Easy Control Platform offers a predictable implementation plan.

• Customized programming and sele-cted components were all tested to ensure reliability, and the delivery of the system was ahead of time, and in less than 2 days.

• An unlimited number of preset configurations of content made the everyday operation effortless.

• Pre-configured typical out-of-the-ordinary scenarios were set up beforehand to manage any incidents or events instantly, making the operation seamless and swift.

Service and maintenance

• The intuitive and simplistic user interface ensured that users easily got started with minimal training efforts.

• In case of the need for user support, this could be done remotely through the Cyviz Easy Server application, reducing the time to help any end users.

• With a server application, the system was monitored and managed to anticipate and prevent any issues to assure uptime during the critical days of the live event, including opening and closing ceremonies.

Solutions for outstanding execution

Thanks to Cyviz’ expertise, using Cyviz technology and innovation to fuel the master operations center was the organizers’ pre-ferred choice – and the only solution that could deliver the versatility and adaptability needed. The result was a superbly-executed event that offered a great working environ-ment for all teams involved, and a better

experience for the participants and atten-dees, all while offering an inspiring display of inclusivity, unity, respect, and sporting achievement. When seeking the most effici-ent, highly functional system for an operati-ons center for an event of any scale, the Cyviz Easy Platform has proven itself to be the industry-leading choice.


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The solution

The Cyviz Easy Platform was implemeted to manage and control the display and the content sources. The data hub served to aggregate the data and the Cyviz video processor served to visualize eight different content sources simultaneously with PiPs (picture in picture) that were displayed in high resolution to the large video wall. The ability to dynamically size the content sources based on current needs, zooming in and out on details, added important value. The preset feature – offered in the platform and available through the Cyviz Touch monitor in the room – was utilized to change between standard operations modus to out of the ordinary scenarios with the click of a button. The Cyviz solution was monitored and reported exceptions to the centralized Cyviz Easy Server. The server has a range of capabilities, allowing operators to remotely diagnose and correct problems, often before the meeting starts. If an end user calls for help, support operators get immediate remote access the Cyviz Touch monitor and can assist the end user within seconds. Helping end users does not require a physical presence.

System specification

• Cyviz Easy Touch Controller

• Cyviz Easy Controller software

• Cyviz Easy web application for users to control content from personal devices

• Cyviz xpo.4 Video Processor

• Cyviz Easy Connect providing wire-less content sharing

About Cyviz Cyviz is a global technology provider for visual collaboration, meeting rooms, visualization, and operations centers. Since 1998, Cyviz empowers the digital workforce, organizations and employees to connect, visualize, and collaborate on their critical data. Cyviz provides turnkey solutions that are easy to deploy, easy to operate, and easy to support. Today, Cyviz serves the Fortune 500, global enterprise and government customers that demand seamless integration of leading-edge technologies that engage people, encourage greater collaboration, and accelerate decision-making. Find out more on www.cyviz.com or visit one of our Cyviz Experience Centers in Atlanta, Dubai, Jakarta, Houston, London, Oslo, Riyadh, Singapore, Stavanger, or Washington DC.


case study: gjØa central control room control room ...€¦ · 07/05/2019 · master operations...

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